Ballroom Dance Shoes

ALL 100% hand made Georges Ballroom Dance Shoes

Ballroom dancing shoes

Ballroom dancing is glamorous, energetic, sexy, thrilling. But it can be awfully painful if you aren’t wearing proper footwear. With so many options, it’s important to know what kind of ballroom dance shoes to buy.

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

  • money
  • ballroom dancing
  1. Step 1
    men's ballroom dance shoe
    men's ballroom dance shoe

    Find a dance store nearby that sells ballroom dance shoes. Even if you find cheaper prices online, it is very important to try on a shoe before you buy it.

  2. Step 2
    practice shoe
    practice shoe

    Determine what your needs are: Do you dance a lot? Are you a competitor or just a social dancer? Do you feel comfortable wearing high heels, or some heel for men considering latin shoes? What kind of ballroom dancing do you do?

  3. Step 3
    character shoe
    character shoe

    If you are a social dancer (meaning you take lessons and use what you learn in social contexts like clubs and weddings), consider just buying something like a character shoe, which is very versatile and inexpensive, for lessons. For going out, wear comfortable, flexible heels (open-toe for latin/rhythm dances and closed-toe for standard/smooth).

  4. Step 4
    latin shoe
    latin shoe

    If you are highly involved in ballroom dancing, then invest in a good dance shoe. For rumba, samba, salsa, cha-cha, swing, jive, and paso doble (rhythm/latin dances), buy a latin shoe. These dance shoes are higher and thinner in heel, are usually open toe, and have straps. They should fit snuggly and bend with your feet. Your big toe should be at the very tip of, if not slightly over, the edge. Choose a heel height based on comfort and your own height.

  5. Step 5
    standard shoe
    standard shoe

    For waltz, foxtrot, quickstep, Viennese waltz, and tango (smooth/standard dances), buy a standard shoe. These dance shoes usually resemble regular high heels. They should fit snuggly so as not to fall off. If you have wide feet, it’s not always good to get wide shoes because dance shoes stretch.

  6. Step 6
    practice shoe
    practice shoe

    If you are a competitor, buy two pairs of shoes: one for practice and one for competition. Practice shoes have lower heels and are more comfortable. Keep the fancier shoes for competition so they won’t get worn out and dull quickly.

  7. Step 7
    men's latin ballroom dance shoe
    men's latin ballroom dance shoe

    For men: The same rules of fit apply for men. The only difference for you men is having to get used to walking with a little heel for latin shoes!

Dancing with High Heels:

There are many different styles of dancing. Only in a few are high heels ever worn by the ladies, namely disco and tango dancing.

Disco dancing lasted mainly between 1973 and 1980. It is terrible that it went out of fashion. Fortunately, there is still tango dancing, which started in the 1800's and is still going strong.

Tango dancing originated in and has spread around the world. It is practiced throughout the , Europe, , and Asia . For tango experts who participate in tournaments, there are also different versions of tango.

 

 Dancing Shoes vs. Street Shoes:

One may wonder whether there is any difference between dancing shoes and regular street shoes. The answer is yes. Dancing shoes are lightweight and better constructed to take the pounding a dancer gives to them. However, some dancing shoes are reported to be poorly constructed.

The soles should be preferably made of suede leather, otherwise grated shiny soles. The heels should be medium to thick in thickness for better balance.

Dancing shoes can also be used for street shoes. However, wearing dancing shoes off of the dance floor can ruin them for dancing. So, if you want to wear dancing shoes off the dance floor, get two pairs. Then, use one for dancing and the other for street wear.